Game Boy Color (Ohga Shrugs)

The Game Boy Color is a handheld video game system created by Nintendo. It was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 18, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in Australia. Unlike its predecessor, the Color features its namesake multichromatic screen.

Contents

History

By the mid-90's, Nintendo was under pressure to replace the aging Game Boy. Although the success of Pokemon allowed them to delay the need for a new system, it was ultimately necessary to maintain solid hardware and software sales and third party support.

The Game Boy Color launched with four games: Centipede, Game and Watch Gallery 2, Pocket Bomberman, and Tetris DX. However, the system's best selling games, including the second generation of Pokemon games, would not come until later on.

The Color was a short-lived system, replaced by the Game Boy Advance as early as 2001.

Hardware

The Game Boy Color kept the same basic proportions and dimensions as its predecessor, albeit with more smoothed edges. However, the system was unusual in that its chassis was transparent.

The technical specifications of the Color were largely similar to the original Game Boy, as they were composed of largely the same parts. However, the Color had three times as much RAM, for a total of 48 KB. The resolution was 160 by 144 pixels, the same as the original Game Boy.

Games

Pokemon was by far the dominant franchise on the Game Boy Color.

Despite its short life, the Game Boy Color had hundreds of games made for it. Many of the best selling games for the system were either sequels or remakes of original Game Boy titles, such as Pokemon Gold/Silver and Crystal, Link's Awakening DX, and Wario Land 3. Other popular games included NES ports, such as Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, Dragon Quest/Warrior and Final Fantasy.